What happened on February 12 ?

1538 - Albrecht Altdorfer, German painter

1554 - Lord Guilford Dudley, consort of Lady Jane Grey (executed) (b. 1536)

1554 - Lady Jane Grey, claimant to the throne of England (executed) (b. 1537)

1571 - Nicholas Throckmorton, English diplomat and politician (b. 1515)

1590 - François Hotman, French lawyer and writer (b. 1524)

1595 - Archduke Ernest of Austria, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands (b. 1553)

1612 - Christopher Clavius, German astronomer (b. 1538)

1624 - George Heriot, Scottish goldsmith and philanthropist (b. 1563)

1630 - Fynes Moryson, English traveler and writer (b. 1566)

1700 - Aleksei Shein, Russian general and statesman (b. 1662)

1724 - Elkanah Settle, English writer (b. 1648)

1728 - Agostino Steffani, Italian diplomat and composer (b. 1653)

1762 - Laurent Belissen, French composer (b. 1693)

1763 - Pierre de Marivaux, French writer (b. 1688)

1771 - King Adolf Frederick of Sweden (b. 1710)

1789 - Ethan Allen, American patriot (b. 1738)

1799 - Lazzaro Spallanzani, Italian biologist (b. 1729)

1804 - Immanuel Kant, German philosopher (b. 1724)

1916 - Richard Dedekind, German mathematician (b. 1831)

1929 - Lillie Langtry, British singer and actress (b. 1853)

1931 - Samedbey Mehmandarov, Russian general (b. 1855)

1933 - Henri Duparc, French composer (b. 1848)

1935 - Auguste Escoffier, French chef (b. 1846)

1949 - Imam Hassan al Banna, Egyptian founder of the Muslim Brotherhood (b. 1906)

1951 - Choudhary Rahmat Ali, one who named the country Pakistan (b. 1895)

1954 - Dziga Vertov, Russian filmmaker (b. 1896)

1957 - Eric Alfred Knudsen, American author, folklorist (b. 1872)

1971 - James C. Penney, American department store founder (b. 1875)

1976 - Sal Mineo, American actor (b. 1939)

1979 - Jean Renoir, French director (b. 1894)

1982 - Victor Jory, Canadian actor (b. 1902)

1983 - Eubie Blake, American musician and songwriter

1984 - Julio Cortázar, Argentine writer (b. 1914)

1985 - Nicholas Colasanto, American actor (b. 1924)

1992 - Bep van Klaveren, Dutch boxer (b. 1907)

1992 - María Elena Moyano, Peruvian activist (b. 1960)

1993 - James Bulger, English murder victim (b. 1990)

1995 - Robert Bolt, English writer (b. 1924)

1995 - Philip Taylor Kramer, American musician (Iron Butterfly)

1996 - Bob Shaw, Northern Irish science fiction writer (b. 1931)

2000 - Screamin' Jay Hawkins, American musician (b. 1929)

2000 - Tom Landry, American football coach (b. 1924)

2000 - Charles Schulz, American comics author (b. 1922)

2001 - Kristina Söderbaum, German actress and photographer (b. 1912)

2005 - Rafael Vidal, Venezuelan athlete (b. 1964)

2006 - Richard Carlton, Australian reporter